Robert Allenby holed a rare albatross on the way to sharing the tournament lead yesterday and he is 18 holes away from landing his third Australian Masters title at Huntingdale.
Allenby, the highest-ranked golfer in this week’s field, found the hole with his second shot at the par-five seventh, his 223m three-wood approach rolling into the pin.
The 35-year-old US-based Allenby fired a five-under 67 to share the 54-hole lead on 10-under 206 with fellow Australian Michael Sim (72-66-68).
Huntingdale member Ashley Hall was in third place, two shots off the pace at eight-under 208 following his 68, while Rod Pampling (70), Anthony Summers (71) and Englishman Steve Webster (70) were at seven-under 209.
Allenby could recollect having scored albatrosses twice before, but never in a setting with so much at stake.
“It was about as pure as it looked,” Allenby said. “The wind was just off the right, I knew I didn’t have to smash it, I knew I just needed to hit it solid. I was just going straight at [the hole] and it did exactly that, it went straight at it, it landed perfect. The most important thing today was just to put myself in position.”
Four years ago, Sim, the former world No.1 amateur, was among a group of young Australian amateur golfers hosted by Allenby at his house in Florida as they prepared to represent their nation in the Eisenhower Cup world teams event in Puerto Rico.
Today Sim will be out to show he has come of age.
“It’s the first time for me in a final group and that’s going to be different,” Sim said. “There’s going to be people out there supporting Robert because he’s from here and I’ve just got to stay in the moment, stay within each shot and if it happens, it happens.”
Seven players either held the lead outright or shared it during yesterday’s round, including overnight South African leader Tim Clark, who surrendered 28 places and was seven strokes adrift of the lead following his disastrous four-over 76.
■ CASIO OPEN
AFP, KOCHI, JAPAN
Overnight leader Komei Oda of Japan overcame an up-and-down round for an even-par 72 to keep the lead after the third round of the Casio Open yesterday.
Oda, who has yet to win a title on the Japan Tour, carded five birdies against five bogeys for a three-round total of 11-under 205, keeping a four-stroke lead and moving nearer his first victory.
Fellow Japanese Yusaku Miyazato, Hirofumi Miyase and Kenichi Kuboya were tied in second place on 209, followed by Tetsuya Haraguchi on 210.
Teenage sensation Ryo Ishikawa, who is already guaranteed to become the youngest Japanese to earn more than ¥100 million (US$1 million), hit a 71 for a 10th place tie with seven other golfers on 212.
The previous record-holder, female golfer Ai Miyazato, was 19 when she reached the milestone in 2004.
■ THAILAND MASTERS
AFP, BANGKOK
Malaysia’s Danny Chia closed in on his first title of the year yesterday in the third round of the Mercedes-Benz Masters Thailand. The 36-year-old fired a three-under 69 to maintain a four stroke lead at The Vintage Club in Bangkok.
Thailand’s Atthaphon Prathummanee is in second place after returning the same score, while a stroke further back is his compatriot Nakul Vichitryuthasastr.
Chia has led the US$75,000 tournament since the first round and would have been further ahead had he not double-bogeyed the final hole.
“There was some good and some bad. I hit the ball well, but the finish was obviously disappointing,” said Chia, who leads on 12-under 204.
Atthaphon dropped two shots on the final hole, but still has a chance of claiming his first title on Tour.
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